Tag: dog pictures

If you read my previous posts you surely discovered the incredible variety of tasks dogs performed, willingly, during the Great War. No matter their size or breed, dogs found a place in the hearts of the troops, saving a great deal of lives in between.

WW1 True Story: Steif, a mixed-breed German dog, saves the life of his master, Lieutenant von Wieland

During the German campaign on the Eastern
front, a lieutenant leading an attack fell under the heavy Russian fire. Heavily
wounded and unable to move, he sent back his men. At the same time back in the
trenches, the lieutenant’s own dog, a Great Dane – Mastiff – hound mix, had
gnawed his leash to set himself free. Steif, the dog, dashed o his master’s
side through the rain of bullets and, with love and determination, he pulled
the severely wounded man to safety. The dog only lost his grip once, when a
bullet “creased” him from shoulder to flank. Right at the end, when his master
was safe, another bullet penetrated the dog’s front legs, braking them.

Steif and Lieutenant von Wieland

Man and dog were rushed to the hospital and were both operated on. Wilhelm II, the German Kaiser (emperor) and king of Prussia came to their hospital bed and awarded each, man and dog, an Iron Cross ( military decoration instituted in 1813 by Frederick William III).

This is their true story, as told to Kaiser Willem II:

“Lieutenant von Wieland led a party of men in an attack on the Russian trenches. Seeing the task hopeless on account of the Russian fire, he, wounded, sent back the men who had set out with him and lay there in the blood and muck and filth of the battlefield: The Russian fire was so murderous that no one dared bring him in. Presently a dark form bounded from the German trenches, rushed to Lieutenant von Wieland’s side, grasped his coat between his teeth and, foot by foot, dragged him to safety. Once, but only for a moment, did he loosen his hold, and that was when a bullet creased him from shoulder to flank. The blood gushed from the wound, but the dog took a fresh hold and finished his job at the edge of the trench where willing hands lifted the lieutenant down to safety. They had to lift the dog down, too, because just then a bullet broke both his forelegs.”

WW1 True Story: Messenger dog Satan helped the Allied forces

Battle of Verdun took place between German
and French soldiers on the Western Front between February and December in 1916,
and more than 300,000 men lost their lives.

A section of French soldiers, outgunned and
outnumbered, were ordered to hold out their area until reinforcements arrived.
Yet days passed.

Their eyes cats on no man’s land, expecting death to rush towards them at any moment, the soldiers were stunned to see a blackish dog wearing a gas mask heading their way. Dog handler Duvalle recognized his boy, Satan, arriving with a vital message.

Satan the dog saved a contingent of French soldiers at the Battle of Verdun

That’s when the German’s spotted Satan and
opened all available fire on him in a desperate attempt to stop the messenger.

Duvalle called and encouraged his dog, urging him
to push forward and directing him over the open death trap that was the
battlefield, reminding him what they both learned during their training. The
dog began running in a zigzag pattern to avoid
the impact of the bullets.

Just meters before
the French trenches two bullets found Satan causing the brave canine to crash
in the dirt. His master could not take it and sprang from the trench, calling
and encouraging his brave companion. ‘Satan – have courage my friend. For
France!’ – were his last words yet they echoed into the dog’s heart who
miraculously crawled to the French trenches, delivering his message of hope:

‘For God’s sake hold on. We will relieve you tomorrow.’

The astounded French
soldiers noticed that Satan had been fitted with two wire cages to his harness,
each containing a messenger pigeon. Quickly, an officer penned the co-ordinates
of the German artillery onto two pieces of paper. Luckily, one pigeon
made it through the German fire and back to the French HQ.

Only one hour later
the German battery fell silent, minced by the French guns a short distance
away.

‘The garrison was able to hold out until reinforcements came all because one hairy mongrel refused to die while his errand was still uncompleted and because he was too loyal to quit.’ (Albert Peyson Terhune, American War Reporter)

WW1 True Story: Taki, first war dog to carry messages for the Allies in World War 1

Taki was a Belgian Sheepdog (Belgian Malinois).

If you wonder, this is the difference between a German Shepherd and a Belgian Malinois dog.

It was 1914 and the German troops, on their
way to occupy UK, were rolling through Belgium. A unit of French Army found itself stranded between a river and the
Germans. They were desperate to send message and call for reinforcements. Who
will dare brave the bullets?

Taki, the youngest of
the trained dogs volunteered. Or was chosen.

Messenger dogs training.

A message was written in code and placed into a waterproof capsule that Taki had been trained to carry in her
mouth. She left and everyone prayed.

Taki successfully went through the shell-worn fields, under a rain of Nazi bullets and poisonous gas and, soon enough, help arrived.

Messenger dog with its handler, in France, during World War I

I hope you enjoyed the blog posts about dogs and the incredible help they gave during WW1.

Come back for new stories about the role of dogs during WW2 and so forth.

Do check out my book Joyful Trouble, A humorous read about an incredible dog and how he had found his true, yet unexpected calling. It is a book for all ages.

Joyful Trouble, Amazon Bestseller in eBook and paperback format

My adult fiction book, Silent Heroes, is a #1 New Release, a contemporary fiction novel, filled with action and emotional twists and turns. “Silent Heroes” has a strong historical and cultural feel of the area when the action takes place, Afghanistan.

Silent Heroes, When Love and Faith Are Worth Fighting for

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